by LuAnn McLane
“Who needs dessert when I’ve got you?”
Sophia felt a rush of heat followed by aching tenderness at his bold statement and the look in his eyes didn’t have one little bit of pretense. They were all alone with nobody to impress. “Are you going to swirl a dollop of whipped cream on top of my head?” she joked, but then realized that the cold creamy topping on her warm body would feel quite nice . . . especially if he chose to lick it off her.
Avery kissed her neck sending a sizzle of heat south. “Mmmm, I could think of other places for the whipped cream.”
“Oh, could you now?” Sophia laughed. She felt mellow from the wine and had energy from the pasta. But most of all she felt desire for a man she was falling in love with. “So could I.”
“Well then, I think it’s about time for dessert. What do you say?” He looked at her through half-lidded eyes while rubbing his thumb over her bottom lip. “If you’re ready,” he added.
“I am more than ready.” When she reached for the can of whipped cream, he scooped her up in his arms. She gave a little yelp, and then laughed while he carried her into her bedroom. She wanted this . . . she wanted him. When the worry gene tried to wiggle its way into her brain she shoved it aside.
Tonight all she wanted was love and laughter . . . with a little whipped cream on top.
15
Simply Delicious
Until meeting Sophia, Avery doubted he’d ever be able to love or trust again. Who would have thought that a can of whipped cream would have broken through that final barrier?
He was suddenly really glad that she’d forgotten to make dessert. The meal had been incredible and he was impressed that she’d pulled it all together with apparent ease and seemed to really enjoy cooking. Unless you counted reluctantly making a sandwich, Ashley had never prepared dinner for him and she would have turned her nose up at something as messy as whipped cream.
Although he hadn’t meant to do so, Avery found himself making comparisons between Ashley and Sophia. What had he even seen in Ashley in the first place went through his head and Avery knew now that his uncle had nailed it. He’d loved her. He loved her so much that he’d made excuses for her selfish behavior. But his devotion to her had been largely a one-way street and now he realized once and for all that he was better off without her in his life. Avery guessed that part of him had known all along, but oh how he wished he could get back the endless hours of pining for a woman who didn’t deserve it!
Tonight, though, Sophia’s shy but playful smile and infectious laughter pushed away the last of his doubts about falling in love again.
Avery had wanted to hold her in his arms and make love to her for a long time, and after the kiss they shared he wanted her even more. Little by little her friendship helped to put the broken pieces of his life back together. Now that he felt whole again, he realized that Sophia was the main reason. And although he longed for her physically, he wanted her emotionally too.
She admitted to being a worrier and tonight he wanted to chase her worries away.
“Where to, Sophia?”
“Down the hallway and to the right,” she said in a breathless voice that he found sexy as hell. “This is fun. I want you to carry me around everywhere.”
Avery laughed. “Really?”
“Well, maybe just around here.” She pointed to the bedroom. “On the way to there.”
“That’s not a problem.” Avery carried her into a spacious bedroom overlooking the Ohio River. “In fact, all my problems disappear when I’m with you.”
“I like that, Avery. I want to be your soft place to land.”
“You already are.”
“Good.”
“I want to be that for you too, Sophia. I want to be the one you turn to when you’re troubled or in pain and I want to be the first person you think of to tell good news. Will you do that for me?”
“Yes,” she answered softly.
“And if you’re worried about anything big or small, promise that you’ll call me.”
“I promise.”
He kissed her again. A gentle, tender kiss meant to convey the way he felt about her. “I’m in your bedroom, sweet Sophia.”
“That you are.” She reached up and cupped his cheek. “And I’m glad.”
“I’ve wanted this for a long time and as hard as it’s been I’m glad that we waited until the time felt right.”
“Me too.”
A small lamp on a nightstand illuminated the room with a soft glow. The sweet, delicate scent of her perfume hung in the air and he imagined her spraying it on just after a shower. And then he imagined Sophia in the shower, naked arms raised while washing her hair. Later, much later, he’d shower with her. Wash her hair, and then slowly work his way downward beneath the hot, steamy spray of water.
Avery walked over to the sliding glass doors that opened to a balcony. “Wow, I bet the view is amazing during the day up here on the tenth floor.”
“It is. I like it in the summer when the baseball stadium is all lit up. Sometimes barges go by and once in a while an old-fashioned paddleboat.”
The mention of the baseball stadium used to bother Avery because it brought up memories of Ashley’s affair, but he didn’t even feel a slight pang this time. “So you like baseball?”
“Not especially, but I will take an interest in anything you enjoy.”
“And I’ll do the same for you.” Avery smiled and the thought occurred to him that Ashley only went to events and did things that she liked to do. He’d often told himself that he didn’t care about her lack of interest in the activities he enjoyed, that it was just a girl-versus-guy thing, but in truth he did what she wanted to do most of the time because he liked to please her. When you loved someone, you wanted to please them, make them happy, but it should always be a two-way street. Avery suddenly realized that with Ashley it was always a my-way-or-the-highway kind of thing.
Wow, he’d been missing out on what a meaningful relationship should be like. Looking back, he realized that now. What was that saying? Hindsight is twenty-twenty.
“Avery, what are you thinking?” Sophia asked softly and with a measure of concern. “You can tell me.”
“That my breakup with Ashley was actually a blessing in disguise.”
“Why is that?”
“Because it brought you into my life.”
“Oh, Avery . . .” Sophia swallowed hard and she gave him a trembling smile. “Well, I hope the next blessing isn’t in disguise and fully announces itself: ‘Here I am and I’m your blessing!’”
“I think you just did.” Avery tossed his head back and laughed. “Yeah, the whole disguise thing can throw a person off for a while.”
“Well, now your life is back on track.”
“You’re right and I have you to thank.” He took the can of whipped cream from Sophia and tossed it onto the bed. He loved the way her arms were wrapped around his neck. She clung to him and he suddenly felt fiercely protective of her. “You know, Ashley wasn’t very polite to you today. I should have stood up for you and put her in her place.”
“Avery—”
“No, I should have. She was trying to needle you and I should have immediately put an end to it. And I should have introduced you as my girlfriend.”
“To throw her off?” Sophia asked lightly but her eyes appeared serious.
“No. To set her straight. There’s no pretending, Sophia.” He shook his head. “No, that’s not quite true. I was pretending to pretend in the first place, if that makes any sense.”
“Perfect sense.”
Avery walked over to the bed, put her down, and sat beside her. “Let me back up. I should never have asked you to get involved in such a stupid plan to begin with.”
“Avery.” Sophia scooted around to face him. “I could have said no. We’d become close friends. I wanted
to help your situation. That’s what friends do.”
Avery shook his head again. “No, Sophia. It was all wrong from the beginning. Having you offer to pretend to be my girl meant that I got to spend time with you without the fear of commitment. I told myself that if what we had wasn’t real, then I couldn’t get hurt. That was my screwy way of thinking.”
“No, I understand.”
“Yeah, but that wasn’t fair to you. None of it was and I’m sorry.”
Sophia lowered her eyes and then looked back at him. “In truth, I had to wonder if maybe you were trying to make Ashley jealous. If you were really over her.”
“No. Absolutely not. And I am one hundred percent over Ashley.” Avery blew out a frustrated sigh. “I hate that I can’t tell you the details of why we ended the engagement. That’s not fair either, but I made a promise.”
“I don’t need to know details, Avery. She hurt you. I saw the pain in your eyes the first time you walked into the bistro.” She gave him a small smile. “And it wasn’t just from the rock-hard biscuits. You were hurting. I wanted to give you a hug right then and there.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, plus I thought you were really cute in spite of your dark scowl.”
“Sophia . . .” Avery closed his eyes, suddenly filled with emotion. He wasn’t a guy who liked to show weakness and he was coming close to it right now. He flopped back and watched the paddle fan going around and around. After a moment Sophia joined him. He reached over and took her hand. “You helped me through a tough time in my life.”
She squeezed his hand. “I’m glad. About the helping part.”
“Yeah, but as I said, I shouldn’t have gotten you involved this way.”
“I’m a big girl, Avery.”
“No, you’re a tiny little thing.”
She nudged him with her elbow. “You know what I mean. I knew what I was getting into and I realized that I was setting myself up for a potentially huge fail.”
“How so?” he asked, even though he knew the answer. He wanted to give her the opportunity to say what was on her mind and he was glad that she’d decided to open up to him about this.
“Either, A, Ashley would become super jealous, which would fuel her desire to get you back even more, or, B, I’d fall hopelessly in love with you, and then we’d have our big pretend drink-in-your-face breakup after the wedding and I’d be forever heartbroken.”
“Like I said, Sophia, it was wrong of me to agree to a scheme like this. I was being really selfish and I’m very sorry. I should have just asked you out on a real date from the beginning. But to be truthful I wanted to and when you insisted on pretending to be into me I was afraid that the attraction was more one-sided.”
“You were so wrong. I was already falling for you while working at the bistro. When you flirted it was so hard not to encourage you but I didn’t want to be your rebound girl.”
“I’m sorry for that too.”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself and stop apologizing. And pretend dating was one of my seemed-like-a-good-idea-at-the-time things. Everybody has those. I sure have had a few.”
He kissed her lightly and said, “Name another one.”
“Going on the Hulk roller coaster at Universal Studios. Grace called me a chicken and so I did it. Instant regret. I screamed from start to finish, and then I threw up three times.”
“Why did it seem like a good idea?”
“Because I wanted to prove Grace wrong.”
“Aw, you poor thing.”
“It was a lesson learned that I don’t need to prove myself. I’m scared of roller coasters. Who cares? And Grace felt so horrible afterward.”
“Because she loves you.”
“Yes, and I love her too. I’m very glad that I made the decision to move to Cricket Creek. I didn’t realize how much I truly missed my family until I moved here. There’s just something about this town that brings people together.” She turned her head toward Avery. “The common denominator is love.”
Avery looked into her gorgeous eyes and nodded. “You’re right.” But then he looked back up at the ceiling, wondering how he could have fallen in love with someone as selfish and untrue as Ashley.
“Love is an emotion, Avery,” she said as if reading his mind. “We don’t pick and choose who we fall in love with. It just happens. You think there is a particular type or certain criteria.” She shook her head. “There’s not. My mother told me that she adored Rick Ruleman but his rock-and-roll lifestyle wasn’t something she wanted for Garret. And she also recently confessed that she was jealous of his music because it took him away from her. She married my father because he represented the stability that Rick didn’t. They weren’t suited for each other. For love to last you have to give and take, you know?”
Avery raised her hand to his mouth and kissed it. “Sophia, you’re beautiful in so many ways but you’re smart too. Levelheaded.”
“Thank you.” She scooted closer to him.
“You’re so forgiving. But I’ve realized that the people with the biggest hearts get hurt the most. It doesn’t seem fair.”
“I have to agree with you but I’d rather be on that side of the ledger, wouldn’t you?”
“Yes,” he said, and thought that in that moment he fell in love with her even more. “Selfish people are never satisfied. Always wanting more and giving so damned little. I’m lucky to have found a sweetie like you.”
“Hey, I can get feisty. My mother taught Grace and me to be independent and to stand up for ourselves. I won’t allow anyone to walk all over me.”
Avery chuckled.
“What, you don’t believe me?”
“Oh, I believe you. I was just thinking I’d like to see you all fired up and in action.”
Sophia laughed and when she moved her hand she knocked against the can of whipped cream. “Speaking of action . . . I think it’s time for a little less talk and a lot more action. What do you think?”
“That I’m ready for dessert.” Avery rolled to his side and pushed up to rest his head on his elbow. “But Sophia, before we take this next step I want you to know that what I feel for you is real. I want you to officially be my girl.”
“Oh, Avery, my feelings for you have been real from the beginning.”
“Uncle Easton was right. I was in denial.” Avery knew he was falling in love with her but he wasn’t ready to tell her just yet. He really did want to get the drama of Zoe’s wedding behind him, and if he was completely honest with himself, there was still a little bit of fear in saying those three little words. Yes, after the wedding reception would be the perfect time to let Sophia know how he felt. But for right now he’d settle for having her in his arms.
Avery pulled her closer and kissed her deeply. He wanted her but he was caught by surprise at the intensity of his desire. When he cupped her breast, she arched her back offering him more. Needing to feel skin, he slipped his hand beneath her sweater. Warm, soft . . . God, he needed to taste her.
“Avery . . .” she said in a breathless, sexy tone.
“This might sound corny but I love it when you say my name.”
“Avery,” she said again. “Avery, Avery . . .” she repeated, and then gasped when he unsnapped the front clasp of her bra. Touching her wasn’t nearly enough. He wanted to see her. Put his mouth on her . . .
“Sophia, I want . . . No, I need you naked. Come up to your knees,” he said, and when she did he tugged her sweater over her head and tossed her bra over his head not caring where it landed or if they ever found it. “God . . . you are just gorgeous.” He feasted his eyes on her breasts that were full, lush, and seemed to be begging for his touch, his mouth. “I could look at you all day long.”
“Oh, Avery . . .” She gasped and threaded her fingers through his hair. “Touch me . . . taste me.”
“Gladly.” Cu
pping the lush fullness in his hands, he licked, sucked to his heart’s content. When he nibbled just slightly she moaned and tipped her head back, pressing her body closer, filling his mouth. He found the snap and zipper of her jeans and a moment later he tugged the denim down her thighs exposing pink silk panties. He toyed with the lace edges until he felt moist heat beneath his hand. Rubbing his thumb back and forth over her mound, he slipped a finger inside to explore where she was wet and ready for him.
Avery moved in tiny circles with his thumb until she clutched his shoulders. “Take . . .” she began, and then groaned. “Take your . . . Oh.” Her breath caught before she could finish her thought and when Avery sucked her nipple into his mouth she cried out with her release. “Oh . . . my . . .” Clinging to him, she buried her face in the crook of his neck. When her legs trembled, he held her tightly and then slowly lowered her onto the bed against a pile of pillows. “You . . . you just made my body tingle from my head to my curled toes.”
“Good, that’s what I was going for. And I enjoyed every second of touching you.” He leaned in and kissed her again. “Now, I want to see and taste all of you.”
After tugging Sophia’s jeans all the way off, Avery came up to his knees and looked down at her. With her hair fanned out against the pillows and her curvy body lounging on the bed, Avery thought she was the prettiest, sexiest sight he’d ever seen. She held his gaze but then sucked her full bottom lip into her mouth and that slightly shy gesture went straight to Avery’s heart.
“You’re way overdressed for the occasion,” she protested, making him chuckle. Her unexpected sense of humor would forever slay him.
“I can fix that.”
“I bet you say that a lot.”
Avery laughed. “I do but I only get naked for you.” He stood up beside the bed and pulled his shirt over his head and then made quick work of his jeans and boxer briefs.